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Opening-  of  Lyman  Williston  Hall 


A  DDRESS 


PROF.  W.  S.  TYLER 


Exercises  of  Dedication 


SPRINGFIELD,  MASS.: 
CLARK    W.BRYAN    &    COMPANY,    PRINTERS 

187  7. 


M   C^TooKC 


DEDICATION 


fLyman  Villiston  Hall 


;13 


Wednesday,  November  15, 1876,  was  a  memorable 
day  in  the  history  of  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary.  It 
was  the  day  set  apart  for  the  dedication  of  Williston 
Hall,  the  new  building  of  science  and  art.  The  build- 
ing was  not  only  finished  from  basement  to  attic, 
but  it  was  in  a  considerable  measure  already  furnished 
with  old  collections  and  new  contributions.  And 
what  was  better  and  more  surprising  than  all  the  rest, 
it  was  finished  and  thus  far  furnished  without  ex- 
ceeding the  estimates ;  without  going  beyond  the 
limit  of  contributions  and  appropriations,  without  a 
dollar  of  indebtedness  remaining  and  resting  upon  it, 
so  that  it  could  be  dedicated  honestly  and  honorably, 
without  drawback  or  reserve.  It  was  therefore  a 
joyful  service  for  Trustees  and  friends,  teachers  and 
pupils,  to  come  together  and  dedicate  it  to  Him  whose 
it  was  by  right  before  it  was  thus  given  to  Him,  and 
who  had  so  prospered  them  in  its  erection.  The 
occasion  was  one  of  hearty  congratulation  and  devout 
thanksgiving. 

The  Trustees  met  at  2  P.  M.,  in  their  beautiful  room 


4  DEDICATION    OF 

at  the  right  hand  of  the  entrance,  chiefly  to  hear  the 
report  of  the  Building  Committee,  and  to  make  suit- 
able acknowledgment  of  services  and  donations.  It 
was  a  grateful  and  a  joyful  meeting,  quite  different 
from  several  that  had  been  held  in  previous  years 
to  devise  ways  and  means.  Some  of  the  resolutions 
which  they  passed  will  appear  further  on  incorporated 
in  this  narrative. 

At  3  o'clock,  teachers,  pupils  and  invited  guests 
were  found  assembled  in  readiness  for  the  entrance 
of  the  Trustees  in  the  Art  Gallery,  which  occupies 
the  entire  upper  story,  and  whose  rooms,  opening  into 
each  other  by  double  sliding  doors,  made  a  very  con- 
venient audience  room,  which  was  further  rendered 
appropriate  and  attractive  by  the  works  of  art  that 
already  adorned  the  walls. 

The  services  were  introduced  with  the  hymn,  "  Holy, 
holy,  holy,  Lord  God  Almighty,"  sung  by  the  Semi- 
nary choir.  The  report  of  the  Building  Committee 
was  then  read  by  Hon.  E.  H.  Sawyer  of  Easthamp- 
ton,  prefaced  with  a  few  remarks  by  Professor  Tyler, 
President  of  the  Board,  who  said  that  such  a  building 
as  that  looked  very  suspicious  in  these  times,  and  for 
Mount  Holyoke  Seminary,  it  certainly  wore  the  ap- 
pearance of  lavish,  not  to  say  extravagant  expendi- 
ture, and  required  explanation — and  as  the  Chairman 
of  the  Building  Committee,  Mr.  A.  L.  Williston,  was 
at  once  too  modest  a  man,  and  too  interested  a  party 
to  tell  the  whole  truth,  he  would  call  on  another 
gentleman  to  report,  who,  next  to  the  Chairman, 
knew  the  most  of  the  history  of  the  building. 


LYMAN   WILLISTON   HALL.  5 


South  Hadley,  Nov.  15,  187G. 
Report  of  the  Building  Committee  of  Lyman  Williston 
Hall,  to  the  Trustees  of  Mount  Holyoke  Female 
Seminary. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  Mount  Holyoke 
Female  Seminary  in  July,  1873,  after  listening  to  statements 
made  by  A.  L.  Williston,  Esq.,  accompanied  with  an  offer  from 
him  to  contribute  seven  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  (subse- 
quently increased  to  ten  thousand,)  towards  the  erection  of  a 
building  for  '^  Science  and  Art,"  a  Building  Committee,  con- 
sisting of  Mr.  Williston,  Prof.  J.  H.  Seelye  and  Dr.  JST.  G. 
Clark,  was  appointed  with  instructions  to  "form  a  plan,  and 
devise  ways  and  means,  and  if  the  way  appeared  clear,  proceed 
to  erect  such  a  building."  At  the  same  time,  in  aid  of  the 
enterprise,  liberty  was  given  to  draw  upon  any  unajjpropriated 
funds  of  the  Seminary  for  a  sum  not  exceeding  ten  thousand 
dollars. 

At  the  next  annual  meeting,  in  July,  1874,  Mr.  Williston, 
Chairman,  and  in  behalf  of  the  Building  Committee,  presented 
a  report  recommending,  as  a  result  of  his  labors  and  investigations 
during  the  year,  and  the  success  that  had  attended  the  effort  to 
raise  the  necessary  funds,  "  That  the  Trustees  proceed  at  an 
early  day  to  erect  the  building."  At  tlie  same  meeting  plans  pre- 
pared by  Messrs.  Peabody  &  Stearns  of  Boston,  were  submitted, 
providing  rooms  for  an  Ichnological  Cabinet,  Natural  History 
Cabinet,  Art  Gallery,  a  large  Lecture  room,  and  sundry  recitation 
and  study  rooms,  all  much  needed  by  the  Seminary. 

The  report  of  the  Committee  was  accepted  and  the  plans  sub- 
stantially as  prepared  were  adopted,  and  the  Treasurer  was 
authorized  to  advance,  if  necessary,  a  further  sum  from  any  un- 
appropriated funds  in  his  hands,  not  to  exceed  ten  thousand 
dollars. 

In  accordance  with  the  action  of  the  Trustees,  work  was  at 
once  commenced.  The  grounds  were  surveyed  and  laid  out  with 
reference  to  the  present  location  of  Williston  Hall,  by  Messrs. 
Bowditch  &  Copeland  of  Boston.  The  foundations  were  com- 
pleted in  the  Autumn  of  1874.  The  corner  stone  was  laid  with 
simple  but  appropriate  exercises  June  1,  1875,  a  statement  and 
narrative  being  read  by  one  of  the  young  ladies  of  the  Seminary, 
and  prayer  being  offered  by  Rev.  Dr.  Herrick  of  South  Hadley. 


6 


DEDICATION    OF 


The  superstructure  was  commenced  in  the  Spring  of  1875,  and 
finished  in  1876. 

The  Committee  have  expended  in  the  construction  and  fur- 
nishing of  Lyman  Williston  Hall,  sums  as  follows,  viz. : 

For  the  foundations, $1,826  57 

"  Grading  the  grounds,  etc., 676  32 

"  Carpenter  and  mason  work,      ......  33,564  57 

"  Heating  and  ventilation, 3,421  07 

"  Cabinets,  cases,  brackets,  lecture  table,  etc.,     .        .  7,094  25 

"  Chairs,  desks  and  tables, 450  60 

"  Laboratory  tables, 235  09 

"  Blackboards, 122  61 

"  Plumbing  for  laboratory  and  lecture  rooms,     .        .  71  05 

"  Architects'  commissions, 2,556  61 

$50,017  74 

They  have  received  to  balance  the  expenditures,  sums  from  the 
following  sources,  viz  : 

Contributions  to  the  building  fund : — 


A.  Lyman  Williston, 
Mrs.  C.  L.  Williston, 
E.  A.  Goodnow,     . 
Mrs.  Emily  G.  Williston 
E.  H.  Sawyer, 
G.  &  C.  Merriam, 
W.  O.  Grover, 
Orrin  Sage,     . 
Emerson  Gaylord, 
Mrs.  W.  V.  Graves, 
Mrs.  Lucy  Lyman, 
Mrs.  W.  O.  Grover, 
H.  P.  Haven, 
Thomas  W.  Williams, 
Sereno  Gaylord, 
J.  H.  Southworth, 
William  Whiting,  . 
Lorenzo  Gaylord,  . 
D.  L.  Harris, 

D.  B.  Wesson, 

E.  AVight,      . 

Mrs.  Susan  Bronson, 
George  W.  Prentiss, 
C.  C.  Lyman, 


Amount  carried  forward, 


$10,000  00 

2,500  00 

2,000  00 

1,000  00 

1,000  00 

1,000  00 

1,000  00 

1,000  00 

900  00 

500  00 

500  00 

500  00 

500  00 

500  00 

500  00 

500  00 

500  00 

500  00 

400  00 

300  00 

300  00 

250  00 

250  00 

250  00 

$26,650  00 

LYMAN    WILLISTON    HALL.  / 

Amount  brought  forward,  .'^26,660  00 

A  number  of  friends  in  sums  of  $100.00  and  less,  eacli,  4,204  22 

$30,914  22 
From  the  Treasurer  of  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary,  advanced 

as  per  vote  of  Trustees, 19,103  52 

Total, $50,017  74 

Other  subscriptions  have  been  made  that  will  be  paid  hereafter. 

It  is  not  known  that  any  bill  remains  unpaid,  or  that  is  not  in- 
cluded in  the  statement  now  made. 

The  contributions  to  the  building  fund  have  many  of  them 
been  secured  from  friends  of  the  Seminary,  b}^  the  interested 
labors  of  the  Principal,  her  associates,  and  the  students.  In  ad- 
dition to  his  large  pecuniary  contribution, the  Treasurer  and  Chair- 
man of  this  Committee  has,  during  the  progress  of  the  work, 
given  many  days  of  personal  care  and  labor  to  the  supervision 
and  completion  in  detail  of  this  beautiful  and  useful  building  that 
so  appropriately  bears  his  name. 

EDMUND  H.  SAWYEE, 

For  and  in  Behalf  of  Building  Committee . 

The  Secretary  of  the  Board,  Prof.  Edward  Hitch- 
cock, then  read  a  resolution  adopted  by  the  Trustees 
as  follows: 

Resolved,  That  in  accepting  the  report  of  tlife  Building  Com- 
mittee just  read,  the  Trustees  desire  to  put  upon  record  their 
grateful  acknowledgments  to  the  Committee  for  the  efficiency 
with  which  the  whole  matter  of  Lyman  Williston  Hall  has  been 
conducted  from  its  beginning  to  its  close,  and  especially  to  the 
Chairman  of  the  Committee,  not  only  for  his  generous  gifts,  but 
also  for  the  wise  planning  and  counsel  and  laborious  superintend- 
ence with  which  he  has  attended  it. 

The  President  of  the  day  now  called  attention  to 
the  splendid  painting  of  the  Hetch  Hetchie  Canon,  by 
Bierstadt,  which  hung  in  a  conspicuous  place  on  the 
walls,  and  which  had  been  presented  to  the  Art  Gal- 
lery by  Mrs.  E.  H.  Sawyer  and  Mrs.  A.  L.  Williston, 
and  by  way  of  explanation  read  the  following  letters 
from  the  donors  and  from  the  artist : 


8 


DEDICATION    OF 


Miss  Ward  and  Ladies  of  the  Faculty  of  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary : 
As  guardians  of  the  treasures  to  be  gathered  in  your  beautiful 
art  building,  we  beg  your  acceptance  of  the  accompanying  pic- 
ture by  Bierstadt,  whose  noble  gift  of  a  large  proportion  of  its 
appraised  value  has  made  it  possible  for  us  to  secure  it. 

We  enclose  the  artist's  own  description  of  his  work,  which  we 
are  sure  will  prove  an  added  charm  as  well  as  aid  to  your  appre- 
ciation of  its  merits.  It  is  our  hope  that  this  fine  painting,  as  one 
expression  of  the  best  in  American  art,  will  prove  an  inspiration 
to  your  pupils,  and  that  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary,  with  her  lofty 
moral  and  intellectual  standard,  now  supplemented  by  art-models 
of  the  best  and  truest  forms,  will  long  continue  to  offer  oppor- 
tunities for  the  highest  culture. 

Very  truly  your  friends, 

S.  J.  SAWYEE, 
November  15,  1876.  S.  T.  WILLISTON. 

New  York,  November  3,  1876. 
Mrs.  Sawyer  and  Mi's.  Williston — 

Dear  Ladies  : — You  have  thanked  me  for  becoming  a  con- 
tributor to  the  fund  for  the  purchase  of  my  own  picture,  but  how 
could  I  do  less  when  influenced  by  your  own  generous  spirit  ? 
Indeed,  I  wish  I  could  have  done  more  for  South  Hadley.  I 
hope  some  day  to  see  the  picture  there  and  to  know  that  it  has 
been  a  source  of  pleasure  to  those  who  have  had  access  to  it. 

The  scene  is  laid  in  the  Hetch  Hetchie  Canon,  California, 
which  lies  some  twenty  miles  north  of  the  Yosemite,  and  is  rarely 
visited  by  the  tourist,  because  of  its  inaccessibility.  It  is  smaller 
than  the  more  famous  valley,  but  it  presents  many  of  the  same 
features  in  its  scenery  and  is  quite  as  beautiful. 

The  season  I  have  chosen  is  late  Autumn,  when  distant  objects 
are  mellowed  by  a  golden  haze  and  when  the  grass  is  dry  and 
yellow.  A  few  elk,  now  unfortunately  becoming  rarer  every 
year,  are  coming  up  the  valley  in  quest  of  one  of  the  few  mount- 
ain streams  that  the  long,  dry  season  has  not  quenched.  In  early 
times  the  deer  were  very  numerous — as  many  as  a  thousand  head 
often  being  seen  together. 

With  an  apology  for  not  having  written  sooner,  owing  to  my 
absence  from  town,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  ladies, 
Very  respectfully  yours, 

ALBERT  BIEESTADT. 


LYMAN    WILLISTON    HALL.  \) 

The  follo^ving  resolution  was  next  read  by  the 
Secretary  : 

Resolved,  That  t]ie  Trustees  of  Mount  Hoi  yoke  Seminary 
desire  to  express  to  Mrs.  E.  H.  Sawyer,  Mrs.  A.  L.  Willistoii  and 
Mr.  Bierstadt  their  grateful  appreciation  of  the  most  timely  and 
valuahle  contribution  they  have  made  to  the  Art  Gnllery. 

The  generous  offering  of  so  choice  a  work  of  art  by  so  emi- 
nent an  American  artist,  fitly  crowns  this  happy  occasion,  when 
we  dedicate  the  beautiful  hall  to  the  promotion  of  high  Christian 
learning  in  this  Seminary. 

The  address  by  Professor  Tyler  followed.  The 
dedicatory  prayer  was  then  offered  by  President 
J.  H.  Seelye^  of  Amherst  College ;  and  the  services 
closed  with  the  singing  of  the  doxology. 

In  the  evening,  the  Seminary  Hall  was  transformed 
by  fairy  hands  into  a  suitably  furnished  and  grace- 
fully ornamented  parlor,  and  trustees,  teachers,  pupils 
and  invited  guests  spent  the  evening  together  in 
cordial  greetings  and  mutual  rejoicings. 

Lyman  Williston  Hall,  so  called  in  honor  of  Mr. 
A.  L.  Williston  of  Northampton,  is  situated  on  a  sightly 
spot,  in  the  rear  and  to  the  north  of  the  main  build- 
ing. It  is  built  of  brick,  four  stories  from  the  ground, 
with  gabled  roof,  and  is  beautifully  finished  within 
with  ash.  The  building  is  warmed  with  steam  and 
furnished  with  speaking  tubes  which  connect  with  all 
parts  of  the  building,  and  with  electric  bells,  which 
are  rung  simultaneously  with  those  in  the  main  build- 
ing. In  the  basement,  besides  the  chemical  store- 
rooms, is  a  room  for  fossil  tracks,  which  already  con- 
tains 100  slabs,  including  a  fine  specimen  from  the 
''  Moody  quarries  "  of  the  Otozoum  Moodii  with  fiNQ 
tracks,  and  also  a  large  number  of  specimens  of  tracks 
of  reptilian  birds.     On  the  first  floor  are  the  botanical 


10  DEDICATION    OF 

and  zoological  lecture  rooms,  a  Trustees'  room  and  a 
professor's  study,  with  the  philosophical  and  chemical 
lecture  room  in  the  rear,  connecting  with  the  labora- 
tory, furnished  for  chemical  work  on  one  side,  and  on 
the  other  with  the  philosophical  cabinet.  On  the 
floor  above  are  the  geological,  zoological  and  miner- 
alogical  cabinets.  In  the  first  of  these  is  a  set  of  casts 
of  the  entire  collection  of  Professor  Wafd  of  Roches- 
ter, and  a  skeleton  of  the  extinct  New  Zealand  bird^ 
Pala^teryx  eleiohantopus,  obtained  by  Prof.  C.  H. 
Hitchcock  of  Dartmouth  College,  and  mounted  by 
Dr.  Edward  Hitchcock  of  Amherst.  There  is  a 
rare  collection  of  corals  in  the  cases  of  the  zoologi- 
cal cabinet,  and  in  New  York  a  collection  of  115 
birds  from  India  is  awaiting  the  order  of  the  Semi- 
nary. They  were  collected  by  Rev.  Mr.  Fairbank, 
a  missionary,  and  the  collection  contains  no  duplicates. 
The  geological  lecture  room  on  the  same  floor,  is  large 
and  pleasant,  and  on  one  wall  is  frescoed  a  15x22  geo- 
logical map  of  the  United  States,  projected  by  Pro- 
fessor C.  H.  Hitchcock,  and  executed  by  Morgan  of 
Springfield.  It  embodies  the  results  of  the  latest  sci- 
entific researches,  and  is  the  one  which  took  the 
prize  at  Philadelphia,  where,  after  October  15,  it 
was  exhibited  in  the  government  building.  The 
upper  story  is  devoted  to  works  of  art,  and,  besides 
the  gallery  itself,  there  are  rooms  which  will  be 
suitably  furnished,  and  used  for  study  and  drawing. 
The  gallery  already  contains  several  gems  of  art, 
including,  besides  the  Bierstadt  above  described, 
engravings  of  Selous's  celebrated  paintings  repre- 
senting Jerusalem  in  her  grandeur  and  in  her  fall, 
the  gift  of  the  class  of  1861 ;  "  The  Morning  Glory," 
an    exquisite    marble    medallion    on    an    easel,    con- 


LYMAN   WILLISTON    HALL.  11 

tributed  by  the  class  ol"  1871  ;  three  bronzes,  "His- 
tory," "  Poetry "  and  "  Music,-'  from  the  class  of 
1865 ;  and  photograjDhs  of  the  Sistine  Madonna 
group,  the  gift  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Lawrence  of  Marble- 
head,  besides  several  paintings  and  portraits  from  va- 
rious donors. 


ADDRESS 


PROFESSOR    TYLER, 

PRESIDENT    OF    THE    BOARD    OF    TRUSTEES. 


We  are  here  to-day  to  dedicate  our  new  building 
of  Science  and  Art.  The  occasion  suggests  two  in- 
quiries. Why  should  the  study  of  Science  and  Art 
be  pursued  and  fostered  in  Mount  Holyoke  and  other 
Seminaries  ?  And  why  should  a  building,  erected  for 
these  purposes,  be  dedicated  to  the  Most  High  with 
prayer  and  religious  services  ?  The  time  allotted  to 
these  exercises  will  permit  only  the  briefest  possible 
answer  to  these  questions.  And  you  will  not  expect 
to  hear,  nor  shall  I  attempt  to  say  anything  original 
or  brilliant,  witty  or  wise,  novel  or  profound. 

The  objects  of  study  in  an  institution  like  this  are 
chiefly  two :  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  and  the 
discipline  of  the  mind.  Both  these  objects  are  ac- 
complished by  the  study  of  Science  and  Art ;  and 
this  is  the  direct  and  primary  reason  why  the  Trust- 
ees of  Mount  Holyoke  should  provide  for  the  study, 
why  the  teachers  should  teach  these  branches,  and 
why  the  pupils  should  pursue  them.  It  is  the  physi- 
cal sciences  to  which  these  beautifully  finished  and 


PROFESSOR   TYLER.  13 

partly  furnished  halls  are  chiefly  devoted ;  and  what  are 
the  subjects  of  investigation  and  study  in  the  physical 
sciences  ?  These  bodies,  so  fearfully  and  wonderfully 
made,  and  so  mysteriously  connected  with  our  souls 
which  are  our  real  selves ;  the  earth  on  which  we 
stand  and  build,  which  we  cultivate  and  adorn,  and 
from  which  we  draw  our  nourishment,  the  elements 
and  forces  which  compose  it,  and  the  changes  which 
it  has  undergone  in  all  its  past  history,  together  with 
the  countless  forms  of  vegetable  and  animal  life  that 
now^  live  and  move  upon  its  surface,  and  the  infinitely 
greater  number  and  variety  of  once  living  forms  that 
lie  buried  in  its  unfathomed  strata ;  the  wide  and 
deep  sea  wdth  its  swelling  tides  and  surging  billows 
and  fathomless  abysses,  wherein  vegetable  and  ani- 
mal life  grows  and  swarms  not  less  than  on  the  land, 
and  that  ceaseless  flow  of  waters  springing  from  the 
ocean,  which  descend  in  showers,  and  burst  forth  in 
fountains,  and  run  in  brooks  and  rivers,  clothing  the 
earth  with  verdure  and  giving  life  to  man  and  beast ; 
the  air  we  breathe,  and  which  is  not  only  the  breath 
of  all  life,  but  the  medium  of  speech,  eloquence  and 
song,  and  thvis  the  means  of  education,  of  mental, 
moral  and  religious  inspiration,  of  intercommunication 
not  only  between  man  and  man,  but  also  between 
man  and  his  Maker ;  the  light  wherewith  we  see,  and 
which  not  only  reveals  to  us  beings  and  things  around 
us  and  gives  them  color  and  expression,  but  on  wings 
infinitely  swifter  than  the  wind,  wings  swift  as  the 
lightning,  yet  soft  as  the  zephyr,  brings  us  intelligence 
of  what  was  ages  ago  in  worlds  whose  distance  from 
us  numbers  can  not  express  and  imagination  can  not 
conceive.  Such  are  some  of  the  great  facts  or  truths 
which  constitute  the  subject-matter  of  the  physical 


14  ADDRESS    OF 

sciences.  And  Science  not  only  observes  isolated 
facts,  but  classifies  and  correlates  them,  interprets 
their  meaning,  discovers  the  laws  that  govern  them, 
and  the  principles  that  underlie  them,  and  aims  ulti- 
mately to  group  facts,  truths,  laws,  principles  and 
particular  sciences  into  one  grand  system  as  orderly 
and  harmonious  as  the  suns  and  systems  that  com- 
pose the  Material  Universe,  revealing  to  us  on  the 
one  hand  those  infinitesimal  atoms  and  subtle  forces 
which  elude  the  sharpest  senses,  and  on  the  other 
those  cosmic  worlds,  orbits  and  spheres  of  attraction 
whose  vastness  so  transcends  comprehension  as  to 
give  us  the  best  conceptions  we  can  form  of  the  infi- 
nite. At  the  same  time  all  the  way  from  the  infini- 
tesimal up  to  the  infinite,  throughout  the  whole 
realm  of  nature,  from  the  minutest  atom  that  glistens 
in  the  sunbeam  before  our  eyes,  or  eludes  our  vision 
in  the  pebble  at  our  feet,  to  the  most  magnificent 
suns  and  systems  that  sweep  through  the  remotest 
regions  of  space,  in  all  the  departments  of  physical 
science  from  chemistry  up  to  astronomy,  from  miner- 
alogy and  geology  up  to  the  anatomy  and  physiology 
of  man,  every  molecule  in  the  mineral,  every  limb 
and  leaf  in  the  plant,  every  organ  in  the  animal,  not 
less  than  every  planet  in  the  solar  system  and  every 
solar  system  in  the  universe,  is  arranged  in  such 
mathematical  order,  is  constructed  so  fully  on  mathe- 
matical principles,  is  so  clothed  in  mathematical  forms, 
or  rather  so  pervaded  with  mathematics  as  its  inform- 
ing principle  and  spirit,  that  five  centuries  and  more 
before  the  Christian  era  Pythagoras  declared  oiumber 
to  be  the  first  principle  of  all  things,  the  soul  of  man 
and  of  the  universe  ;  and  Plato  taught  that  God  ge- 
ometrizes. 


PROFESSOR   TYLER.  15 

Surely  nothing  need  be  added  to  show  that  these  sci- 
ences deserve  a  phice  as  a  part  of  the  curricuhim  in  our 
higher  seminaries  of  learning.  While  they  thus  open 
an  illimitable  field  of  interesting  and  valuable  knowl- 
edge, and  so  accomplish  the  first  object  of  study  in  a 
course  of  liberal  education,  it  is  equally  manifest  that 
they  fulfill  the  second  demand  and  furnish  an  admira- 
ble discipline  for  the  mind,  first  in  the  observation  of 
the  facts  and  phenomena  of  nature,  and  then  in  the 
inductive  and  deductive  reasoning  by  which  these 
facts  are  classified,  correlated  and  interpreted,  and 
not  only  interpreted  but  mathematically  demonstrated 
sometimes  in  advance  of  observation,  d^^ndi  prophesied 
with  unerring  certainty  before  their  actual  discovery. 
Perhaps  there  are  no  studies  more  improving,  so  far 
as  they  go,  and  certainly  there  are  none  more  inspir- 
ing than  the  mathematical  and  physical  sciences,  as 
they  are  now  pursued  and  taught  in  their  intimate 
and  indissoluble  relations  to  one  another.  We  do  not 
wonder  that  some  of  the  best  minds  in  our  colleges 
and  higher  seminaries  catch  some  of  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  original  discoverers  in  these  sciences — of  Ar- 
chimedes who  ran  through  the  streets  crying  EvQjjxa 
when  he  discovered  the  relation  of  the  sphere  to  the 
circumscribing  cylinder,  or  of  Tyndall  when  he  de- 
monstrated and  measured  the  steady  and  resistless 
flow  of  the  glaciers  in  their  deep  channels  down  the 
Alps.  I  have  felt  the  inspiration  myself  (if  you  will 
pardon  a  personal  allusion),  and  when  I  was  a  student 
in  college,  I  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer  and  partisan 
of  the  mathematical  and  physical  sciences.  At  the 
same  time  I  cannot  forget,  and  I  trust,  the  teachers 
and  pupils  of  Mount  Holyoke  will  never  forget,  that 
there'  are  other,  yes  and  higher  studies.     Language 


16  ADDRESS    OF 

and  history  and  philosophy  are  higher  than  chemistry 
and  geology  and  astronomy,  as  man  is  more  exalted 
than  nature ;  and  ethics  and  religion  are  higher  than 
even  the  humanities,  as  the  moral  is  superior  to  the 
merely  intellectual,  and  as  the  Infinite  Spirit  is  prior  and 
paramount  to  any  and  all  of  his  intelligent  creatures. 
The  science  of  man  culminates,  crowns  and  in  a  sense 
includes  the  science  of  nature,  as  man  himself  domi- 
nates nature  and  contains  all  its  elements  and  forces  in 
his  own  mysterious  microcosm.  And  the  science  of 
God  comprehends  all  other  science,  as  God  himself  is 
the  source  and  sum  of  all  being  and  all  knowledge. 

The  reasons  why  we  should  study  Art  are  so  similar 
to  those  for  which  we  should  study  Nature,  that  we 
need  not  dwell  upon  them.  It  develops  and  disci- 
plines the  same  faculties  of  observation  and  reason, 
together  with  other  and  in  some  respects  higher  fac- 
ulties, viz.,  those  of  taste  and  imagination,  which  are 
not  only  intellectual  and  rational,  but  also  emotional, 
and  thus  more  nearly  moral.  And  it  presupposes, 
demands  and  cherishes  the  same  interesting  and  valu- 
able knowledge,  the  knowledge  of  nature  in  all  her 
myriad  forms  and  aspects,  together  with  the  fur- 
ther and  higher  knowledge  of  man  in  his  whole  com- 
plex nature  and  being.  Art  is  nature  and  man  ideal- 
ized, penetrated  with  the  idea  of  the  artist,  suffused 
with  his  feelings,  transfigured  by  his  imagination. 
The  true  artist,  like  the  true  poet,  is  a  maher^  as  the 
old  English  called  him,  a  TTon^riig  in  the  language  of 
the  Greeks,  or  as  Bailey  more  exactly  expresses  it, 
God's  under-msker,  who,  by  his  original,  inventive 
and  creative  genius,  under-makes  or  reproduces  a 
world  of  ideal  beauty  and  grandeur  out  of  the  chaos 
into  which  our  world  has  fallen.     A  thing  of  beauty, 


PROFESSOR    TYLER.  17 

you  know,  is  ;i  joy  lorever.  To  liavc  seen  it,  to  have 
studied  and  eonipreliended  it,  to  have  been  inspired 
and  possessed  by  it,  not  only  deHghts  the  mind,  but 
enriches  and  adorns  it.  The  study  of  art,  including 
poetry,  oratory  and  music  as  well  as  painting,  sculpt- 
ure and  architecture,  is  the  study  of  the  highest  ideals 
Avhicli  the  genius  and  the  imagination  of  man  have 
ever  created.  Such  studies,  properly  pursued,  can 
hardly  be  otherv^ise  than  inspiring,  transforming,  puri- 
fying and  ennobling. 

And  yet  truth  and  justice  require  me  to  add  in 
reference  to  the  fine  arts,  as  I  have  already  said  in 
regard  to  the  physical  sciences,  that  there  are  higher 
studies,  as  there  are  higher  faculties,  than  those  of 
taste  and  imagination,  as  the  true  and  the  good  are 
more  exalted  and  more  exalting  than  the  beautiful. 
Ethics  is  higher,  philosophy  is  higher,  religion  is 
higher.  And  the  exclusive  or  the  excessive  study  of 
art,  cultivating  the  taste  and  the  imagination  to  the 
neglect  of  the  conscience  and  the  heart,  may  fmnish 
the  higher  nature,  derange  the  proper  balance  and  due 
proportion  of  the  faculties,  and  prevent  the  forma- 
tion of  a  harmonious  and  lofty  character,  as  it  did  in 
the  education  of  the  ancient  Greeks  as  a  nation.  It 
is  no  such  estimate  or  study  of  science  and  art  for 
which  we  plead,  although  such  is  doubtless  the  ten- 
dency, and  perhaps  one  of  the  most  dangerous  ten- 
dencies of  education  in  modern  times.  Alas  for  our 
children  and  youth  when  they  are  taught,  in  the  fam- 
ily or  in  the  school,  to  exalt  knowledge  above  wisdom 
and  virtue.  Alas  for  our  country  when  the  people 
come  to  admire  beauty  more  than  goodness.  Not  so 
would  we  teach  science  and  art.  We  would  rather 
put  them  in  their  proper  place,  which  is  not  that   of 

3 


18  ADDRESS    OF 

mistresses  but  of  handmaids  in  the  family  of  knowl- 
edge, not  of  principals,  but  of  assistants  in  the  school 
of  wisdom. 

Science  and  art  naturally  dwell  together.  They 
belong  to  the  same  family.  They  are  co-workers  in 
the  same  work  and  to  the  same  end.  Science  observes 
the  facts,  discovers  the  laws  and  establishes  the  prin- 
ciples. Art  develops  the  rules  and  applies  them  to 
practice.  Science  lays  the  foundations  and  art  builds 
the  superstructure,  or,  as  we  have  it  in  this  building, 
science  dwells  in  the  basement  and  lower  stories,  art 
in  the  upper  story  and  the  attic.  Such  an  edifice  as 
this,  built  of  enduring  materials,  scientifically  con- 
structed and  artistically  finished,  devoted  to  the  uses 
at  once  of  science  and  art,  embodies  an  idea  which  is 
befitting  to  any  institution,  but  especially  to  a  semin- 
ary for  the  education  of  young  women.  There  is  in 
the  Centennial  Exhibition  at  Philadelphia,  a  building 
called  the  "Woman's  Pavilion,"  where  the  useful 
and  the  beautiful  productions  of  woman's  handi- 
work are  brought  together  and  exhibited.  And  in 
that  pavilion,  nothing  has  attracted  so  much  atten- 
tion and  admiration  as  that  work  of  art  in  which  one 
of  the  homespun  and  yet  most  useful  products  of  fe- 
male industry,  the  chief  product  of  the  dairy,  has  been 
fashioned  by  a  woman's  hand,  into  an  almost  living- 
representative  of  her  own  sex.  The  beauty  of  the 
medallion  consists  largely  in  its  fitness  to  the  place 
it  occupies,  in  the  idea  which  it  there  embodies  and  ex- 
presses. The  beautiful  building  in  which  we  are  now 
assembled,  in  so  large  measure  the  product  of  woman's 
thought  and  toil  and  tact,  is  our  centennial  offering. 
Who  will  say  that  it  is  not  as  beautiful  as  the  work  of 
art  at  Philadelphia,  and  far  more  useful  and  enduring  ? 


PROFESSOR   TYLER.  10 

And  its  fffnrss  is  its  liip^licst  beauty.  The  idea  whieh 
it  represents  is  that  of  Science  and  Art  in  a  woman's 
Seminary,  united  and  consecrated  to  Religion.  Sci- 
ence and  Art  are  sisters,  and  Religion  is  mother  of 
them  both. 

But  Ave  are  anticipating  our  second  question : 
Why  should  a  building,  erected  for  purposes  of  sci- 
ence and  art,  be  dedicated  with  prayer  and  religious 
exercises  to  the  honor  and  service  of  the  Most  High  ? 

1.  The  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  the  fullness  thereof; 
and  everythimj  which  comes  into  our  possession,  and 
which  we  call  our  own,  should  be  consecrated  to  the 
All-maker,  the  All-owner,  the  All-giver,  as  in  a  higher 
sense  his.  Our  public  edifices,  like  our  homes  and 
hearts,  should  all  be  temples  of  God,  dedicated  by 
prayer,  hallowed  by  perpetual  song,  and  ever  open 
for  his  incoming  and  indwelling. 

2.  The  physical  sciences,  like  all  other  science,  are 
only  so  many  parts  and  parcels  of  that  science  of  God 
of  which  He  is  at  once  the  main  subject  and  the  chief 
object,  the  original  author  and  the  ultimate  end.  And 
they  can  be  fully  known  only  in  connection  with  the 
knowledge  of  God.  They  can  be  best  studied  in  his 
illuminating  presence  and  in  the  light  of  his  counte- 
nance. God  is  not  only  the  original  author  and  ulti- 
mate end  of  all  science,  but  of  all  high  and  true  art 
also  ;  He  is  the  supreme  artist,  the  supreme  architect, 
the  supreme  mathematician,  the  supreme  author.  He 
is  the  essence  of  beauty  and  grandeur,  as  well  as  the 
sum  of  wisdom  and  knowledge,  "  whose  being  is  all 
beauty,  whose  breath  is  nuisic,  and  his  thunder  too." 
What  clue  can  there  be  to  the  understanding  of  a 
book  like  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  its  author  ? 
What  help  to  the  appreciation  of  any  work  of  art  like 


20  ADDRESS    OF 

daily  commimion  with  the  artist  ?  What  guide  to  the 
knowledge  of  nature  or  man  like  the  knowledge  and 
the  love  of  Him  who  is  the  maker  of  both  ?  What 
inspiration  to  the  pursuit  of  science  or  art  like  his 
constant  worship  and  service  ?  Hence  not  only  have 
divines  taught^  that  to  pray  well  is  to  study  tvell — bene 
orasse  est  bene  studuisse,  but  poets  have  sung:  The 
tindevout  astronomer  is  mad;  and  the  founders  of  the 
modern  physical  sciences  have  said  that  the  kingdom 
of  man  founded  in  science  is  like  the  hingdoni  of 
heaven  :  it  can  he  entered  only  in  the  character  and 
spirit  of  a  little  child.  The  great  Author  of  science 
and  art  is  at  the  same  time  the  great  Teacher,  and  He 
teaches  chiefly — in  the  highest  sense  He  teaches  only 
those  who  are  of  a  humble,  teachable,  prayerful,  be- 
lieving spirit. 

3.  Our  colleges  and  higher  seminaries  have  for  the 
most  part  been  founded  by  Christian  men  and  women, 
for  Christian  purposes,  and  in  a  Christian  spirit.  All 
the  older  universities,  colleges,  and  academies,  both  of 
the  Old  World  and  of  the  New,  were  the  offspring  of 
the  churches  and  were  in  an  important  sense  religious 
institutions.  "  Even  the  mottoes  and  devices  of  the 
college  seals  bear  witness  to  this  fact."  I  quote 
the  language  of  President  Stearns  at  the  opening  of 
Walker  Hall.  "  The  first  and  temporary  seal  of  Har- 
vard contained  three  open  bibles  with  a  syllable  of  the 
word  Veritas  upon  each  of  them ;  its  second  tempo- 
rary seal,  the  same  three  bibles,  with  the  words,  In 
Chris ti  Glofiam  ;  the  words  which  characterize  its 
permanent  and  present  seal  are  Christo  et  Ecclesiae. 
Yale  has  one  open  bible  with  the  Hebrew  w^ords  of 
the  high-priest's  breast-plate,  Urhn  and  llmmmim, 
inscribed  in   Hebrew  letters  upon  it,  and  the  Latin 


PROFESSOR    TYLER.  21 

words.  Lux  et  Veritas,  Jiroiind  it,  signifying,  probably, 
that  liglit  and  truth  arc  to  be  obtained  by  inquiring  of 
the  Lord.  Brown  University  has  a  red  cross  on  a 
white  field  between  four  open  books,  illuminated  by 
a  sun  rising  amid  clouds,  bearing  the  motto,  In  Deo 
Sjyeramns.  Amherst  College  exhibits  on  its  seal  an 
open  bible  with  a  full-orbed,  unclouded  sun  pour- 
ing down  upon  its  pages,  and  the  words  beneath 
it.  Terras  irradienty  signifying  that  learning  and  re- 
ligion with  their  united  radiance  shall  enlighten 
all  lands."  It  is  not  strange  that  such  institutions 
founded  by  such  persons  and  for  such  ends  should 
have  had  the  established  custom  of  opening  their  halls 
as  well  as  inaugurating  their  officers  with  dedicatory 
religious  services.  Of  late  the  rise  of  State  Universi- 
ties has  gradually  led  to  some  infringement  or  neg- 
lect of  this  custom ;  and  the  most  recent,  and  one  of 
the  richest  of  our  Universities  (I  say  it  more  in 
sorrow  than  in  anger)  has  not  only  dispensed  with  all 
religious  services  at  its  opening,  but  the  opening 
address  was  delivered  by  a  foreign  savant,  or  scien- 
tist, who  has  quite  outraged  the  religious  sentiments 
of  Christian  people  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and 
who,  in  developing  his  idea  of  University  education 
on  this  occasion,  had  not  a  word  to  say  of  religion  or 
God,  and  indeed  left  no  place  for  either  in  his  scheme. 
Mount  Holyoke  Seminary  set  out  with  other  aims, 
started  in  a  more  excellent  way,  and  still  cherishes 
a  very  different  spirit.  From  foundation  to  turret, 
every  stone  has  been  laid  in  prayer,  and  it  becomes 
her  well  to  dedicate  every  building  to  the  honor  and 
service  of  God,  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

4.   This  building  we  owe  especially  as  a  thank-offer- 


22  ADDRESS    OF 

ing  to  God.  Of  all  our  buildings  none  has  sprung 
from  so  small  and  insignificant  a  conception,  and  yet 
grown  to  such  ideal  completeness  and  such  perfect 
finish  in  the  execution.  The  first  idea  five  years  ago, 
you  remember,  was  merely  an  astronomical  observa- 
tory, and  that,  perhaps,  a  mere  appendage  to  the 
main  building.  And  now,  behold,  the  most  costly 
and  elegant  of  all  our  edifices,  a  model  of  architectural 
grace,  especially  the  grace  of  fitness,  wisely  planned 
and  beautifully  finished,  occupying  the  finest  site  in 
all  our  grounds — in  one  word,  a  temple  in  which 
science  and  art,  all  the  physical  sciences  and  the  fine 
arts  can  dwell  harmoniously  together,  where  they  can 
gather  all  their  treasures  and  where  priestess  and 
votaries  can  meet  to  inquire  together  at  their  oracles, 
and  worship  together  at  their  altars.  Let  it  not  be  a 
temple  without  a  God.  God  forbid  that  we  should 
not  dedicate  it  to  Him. 

The  effort  to  raise  the  money  for  this  building,  also, 
for  a  long  time  seemed  most  unpromising.  The  times 
have  been  hard  from  the  first,  and  constantly  growing 
harder.  An  accomplished  agent  was  employed  for 
months  to  solicit  funds,  but  wath  very  little  success. 
And  now  it  is  a  mystery  to  me  where  in  the  world 
the  money  came  from.  We  know  well  enough  who 
gave  the  first  ten  thousand  (although  we  hardly  dare 
whisper  his  name),  and  we  shall  never  cease  to  love  and 
honor  him.  It  was  the  same  humble,  modest,  sensi- 
ble, wise  manufacturer  who  has  gotten  up  the  plans, 
superintended  the  construction  and  put  on  the  finish  ; 
whose  hand,  as  well  as  time  and  money,  we  see 
in  every  part,  and  whose  name,  therefore,  in  spite  of 
himself,  trustees,  teachers  and  pupils  have  spontane- 
ously,  irresistibly   and    unalterably   fixed   upon    the 


PROFESSOR   TYLER.  23 

edifice.  We  know  also  the  donors  of  several  otiier 
generous  gilts  varying  from  two  thousand  dollars 
down  to  one  hundred,  and  we  shall  never  forget 
them.  But  whence  came  the  rest — some  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  thousand  dollars  still  remain  to  be  ac- 
counted for.  How  was  this  raised  ?  It  seems  to  me 
little  short  of  a  miracle.  True,  quite  a  large  sum  was 
a  surplus  that  had  accumulated  in  the  treasury.  But 
how  did  Mount  Holyoke  happen  to  have  a  surplus, 
when  our  older  and  richer  institutions,  with  their  large 
funds  and  their  so  much  higher  charges,  are  so  many 
of  them  running  in  debt  every  year  ?  And  whence 
came  the  remainder  ?  Were  the  windows  of  heaven 
opened,  and  did  it  drop  down  from  above  ?  Or  did 
it  come  on  the  wings  of  the  wind  from  the  four  quar- 
ters of  the  globe  ?  Yerily,  our  beautiful  hall  seems 
to  have  been  nourished  and  fed  very  much  as  the 
prophet  of  Israel  was  fed  at  the  brook  Cherith,  by  the 
ravens,  or  rather  by  the  white- winged  doves.  Here, 
too,  we  are  afraid  to  mention  names  or  even  to  go  into 
particulars,  lest  we  offend  the  modesty  of  these  swift- 
winged  messengers  and  cunning  workers.  But  we 
must  be  allowed  to  say  that  foremost  among  these 
collecting  agents  is  one  to  whose  large  plans  and  far- 
seeing  thoughts  we  are  as  much  indebted  for  the  idea 
of  this  building  as  we  are  to  her  steadfast  and  un- 
yielding purpose  for  its  execution,  and  who  has 
shown  the  same  wisdom  and  skill  in  raising  money 
which  she  has  long  exhibited  in  teaching  and  presid- 
ing over  this  institution.  And  she  has  found  willing 
and  efficient  helpers  in  those  who  are  associated  with 
her  in  the  government  and  instruction,  especially 
those  who  are  particularly  interested  in  the  depart- 
ments of  art  and  the  physical  sciences. 


24  ADDRESS    OF 

The  number  of  donors,  while  it  has  added  much  to 
the  labors  of  the  collectors,  has  really  increased  the 
value  of  the  donations.  I  am  told  that  as  many  as 
five  or  six  hundred  different  persons  have  contributed 
either  money  to  the  building  fund  or  specimens  and 
articles  for  the  collections.  I  am  thus  reminded  of 
Miss  Lyon's  plans  and  efforts  for  founding  the  Semi- 
nary and  erecting  the  first  edifice.  She  says  :  "  There 
are  but  two  ways  to  accomplish  such  an  object.  One 
is  to  interest  one,  two  or  a  few  wealthy  men  to  do  the 
whole ;  the  other  is  to  interest  the  whole  New  Eng- 
land community.  The  first  method,  if  done  at  all, 
could  be  done  sooner  and  with  comparatively  little 
labor.  The  second  would  require  vastly  more  time 
and  labor ;  but  if  it  were  accomplished,  an  important 
and  salutary  impression  would  be  made  on  the  whole 
of  New  England."  So  with  our  building.  If  some 
one  man  could  and  would  have  furnished  all  the  funds 
needed,  as  they  have  for  some  of  the  magnificent  dor- 
mitories recently  erected  for  Yale  and  Cambridge,  the 
process  would  have  been  much  quicker  and  easier. 
There  would  have  been  a  great  saving  of  time  and  la- 
bor and  anxiety.  But  none  of  us — teachers,  pupils, 
trustees,  friends — none  of  us  would  have  felt  half  the 
interest  in  the  building  that  we  now  feel.  Now  with 
the  contributions,  we  have  the  hearts,  the  prayers  and 
good  wishes  of  several  hundred  donors  and  workers, 
not  only  in  every  part  of  New  England  but  all  over 
the  world. 

I  am  even  more  surprised  at  the  furnishing  than  at 
the  finish  of  this  building.  I  expected  to  see  a  beau- 
tiful building  with  ample  rooms  and  accommodations, 
but  with  bare  walls  and  empty  shelves.  What  else 
could  we  have  expected  ?     But  what  do  our  eyes  see  ? 


PROFESSOR   TYLER.  25 

Not  walls  covered  with  works  of  the  great  masters 
and  shelves  iilled  with  scientific  collections,  oi"  course, 
but  no  manifest  loant  of  paintings  and  engravings, 
some  of  them  of  great  value  and  interest  in  them- 
selves, and  all  of  great  interest  as  memorials  or  sou- 
venirs ;  and  no  palpable  deficiency  in  the  means  of 
teaching  and  illustrating  the  physical  sciences — no 
bare  walls  and  almost  no  empty  cases  !  If  we  had 
been  told  five  years  ago  that  we  should  ever  have  so 
costly,  so  convenient  and  so  beautiful  a  building  as 
Willis  ton  Hall,  we  should  have  been  utterly  incredu- 
lous. If  anybody  had  predicted  that  we  should  not 
only  have  a  building  ample  and  complete  for  all  the 
departments  of  science  and  art,  but  we  should  have 
the  basement  well  stored  with  fossil  foot-marks,  and 
the  Geological  museum  as  full  of  casts  of  strange 
pre-Adamic  creatures  as  Noah's  ark  was  of  antedilu- 
vian animals,  and  the  Mineralogical  and  Botanical 
rooms  furnished  with  specimens  from  every  quarter 
of  the  globe,  and  an  Art  gallery  in  which  one  of 
Bierstadt's  masterpieces,  fresh  from  the  International 
Exhibition,  should  be  the  nucleus  and  center  of  attrac- 
tion, we  should  have  been  still  more  unbelieving.  I 
am  sure  we  shall  never  forget  those  good  ladies  to 
w^hose  taste  and  generosity  we  are  indebted  for 
this  splendid  work  of  art,  nor  the  artist  whose  sympa- 
thy with  them  and  friendship  for  the  Seminary  placed 
it  pecuniarily  within  their  reach,  nor  the  missionary 
graduates  who  have  not  forgotten  the  Seminary  in 
far-off  lands,  nor  the  teachers  and  pupils  whose  swift 
feet  and  cunning  hands  have  gathered  these  speci- 
mens here  in  so  short  a  time  and  arranged  them  so 
tastefully  within  these '  walls,  in  these   cases  and  on 

4 


26  ADDRESS    OF 

these  shelves.  We  shall  enshrine  them  all  in  the 
memory  of  our  hearts. 

But  after  all  due  acknowledgment  and  recognition 
of  human  agencies,  I  think  we  shall  all  be  ready  to 
say,  as  I  heard  one  of  the  former  Principals  say 
yesterday  ;  it  is  the  Lord's  doing  and  it  is  marvelous 
in  our  eyes.  Shall  we  not,  then,  dedicate  it  to  Him  ? 
Again  I  say,  God  forbid  that  we  should  not.  And 
God  forbid  that  we  should  make  an  idol  of  it  and 
worship  the  gift  while  we  forget  and  ignore  the  Giver. 
Never  let  there  be  any  Godless  or  Christless  sci- 
ence or  art  taught  within  these  walls.  I  once  heard 
a  gentleman,  and  a  gentleman,  too,  of  liberal  views 
as  well  as  great  wealth,  who  had  given  his  scores 
of  thousands  to  found  a  College  on  the  Bosphorus, 
express  some  fear  that  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary 
was  departing  somewhat  from  its  primitive  simplicity 
and  economy,  as  well  as  old-fashioned  piety  ;  and  in- 
stanced, as  an  illustration,  the  splendid  procession  of 
robes  and  scarfs  at  the  anniversary.  He  had  only 
heard  of  it,  however ;  he  had  never  seen  it ;  if  he  had 
he  would  as  soon  have  thought  of  censuring  a  vision 
of  white-robed  angels.  No,  there  is  nothing  too  good, 
there  is  nothing  too  beautiful,  there  is  nothing  too 
costly  for  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary  that  its  kind 
friends  choose  to  give  it,  and  the  good  Lord  chooses 
to  send  it.  Only  let  it  be  useful  as  well  as  beautiful ! 
Only  let  Holiness  to  the  Lord  be  written  upon  it ! 
That  is  what  we  are  here  to-day  and  at  this  hour  to 
do.  And  let  no  man  in  the  years  or  the  ages  yet  to 
come,  ever  dare  to  obliterate  the  writing,  or  deface, 
or  blot,  or  blur  the  inscription ! 

Let  each  and  all  of  us  respond  heartily,  as  I  doubt 
not  we  all  can  and  will,  to  the  language  of  Miss  Lyon 


PROFESSOR   TYLEIl.  27 

in  a  letter  which  she  wrote  to  Miss  (Jrjint,  (ai'ter wards 
Mrs.  Banister,)  in  October,  1835:  ^^  How  often  have 
I  endeavored  to  consecrate  all  the  ])art,  all  the  inter- 
est which  God  has  given  me  in  this  contemplated  in- 
stitution, most  sacredly  and  solemnly  to  his  service  ! 
And  how  often  have  I  endeavored  to  pray  that  no  one 
who  has  anything  to  do  in  building  it  up  may  ever  call 
aught  his  own.  Oh,  that  every  one  who  puts  a  finger 
to  the  work  by  giving  the  smallest  contribution  of 
time,  of  money,  or  of  influence,  might  feel  that  this  is 
a  work  of  solemn  consecration,  a  work  to  be  reviewed 
in  eternity !  " 

Such  was  the  spirit  of  the  founder  of  Mt.  Holyoke 
Seminary !  May  such  ever  be  the  motives  of  every 
trustee,  teacher,  pupil  and  benefactor !  With  such 
views  and  feelings,  do  we  who  now  represent  the 
Seminary,  and  all  who  have  had  anything  to  do  with 
the  erection  or  the  replenishing  of  this  edifice ;  yes, 
and  all  who  have  at  any  time  and  in  any  way  ever 
contributed  to  the  founding  or  the  upbuilding  of  the 
Seminary — for  the  early  founders  and  donors,  we 
doubt  not,  are  in  spirit  present  and  acting  with  us  on 
this  occasion — with  such  views  and  feelings  do  we 
now  dedicate  this  building  to  the  honor  and  service 
of  God,  the  Father,  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Long  may  it  stand  a  beautiful  and  truthful  sign  and 
symbol  of  the  idea  and  the  fact,  that  in  this  Seminary 
science  and  art  are  ever  sacredly  devoted  to  the  cause 
of  pure  and  undefiled  religion ! 


LYMAN  WILLISTON  HALL. 


MOUNT    HOLYOKE    SEMHSTAR^Y, 

South  Hadley,  Mass. 


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UNIVERSrTY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


30 


12  112456055 


